USA Unveils SheBelieves Cup Roster as World’s Top Teams Come to USA

U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Jill Ellis has set the USA roster for the 2016 SheBelieves Cup, which will bring four of the world’s top five ranked women’s national teams to the USA from March 3-9.

The USA’s hosting of the 2016 SheBelieves Cup, which will be the top four-nation women’s international tournament in the world this year, will feature three doubleheaders: March 3 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida (Germany vs. France and USA vs. England), March 6 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee (USA vs. France and England vs. Germany) and March 9 at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Florida (France vs. England and USA vs. Germany). The USA’s first match against England will be broadcast on FS1 and its following two games against Germany and France will both be broadcast on ESPN3.

Ellis has named a 22-player roster that features 19 of the 20 players who helped the USA to the title at the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship while earning a berth to the 2016 Olympics in Brazil along the way. The roster includes the USA’s individual award winners at that tournament: MVP Morgan Brian, Golden Glove winner Hope Solo and Golden Boot winner Crystal Dunn. Ellis has also recalled 2015 Women’s World Cup winners Whitney Engen and Heather O’Reilly, who has 228 caps and 46 goals for the USA. Ellis also added one new player, handing Seattle Reign FC defender Lauren Barnes her first senior team call-up.

Tickets for all three doubleheaders are on sale through ussoccer.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000 and at all Ticketmaster ticket centers in the local venue areas. [Note: Tickets are not sold at either Raymond James Stadium or FAU Stadium except on the day of the event.] Groups of 20 or more can obtain an order form at ussoccer.com.

The winner of the tournament will be based on total points (three for a win, one for a tie), with the first tie-breaker being overall goal difference, followed by most total tournament goals scored, then head-to-head result and lastly (if necessary) FIFA Ranking .

The USA is currently first in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings. Germany is ranked second, France is third and England is fifth. The USA, Germany and England all advanced to semifinals of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup with Germany beating France in a quarterfinal penalty kick shootout to earn its spot in the last four.

Conceived of and developed by the USWNT players, #SheBelieves is a movement to inspire young girls and encourage them to accomplish all their goals and dreams, athletic or otherwise. The campaign launched in the run-up to the 2015 Women’s World Cup and has grown since then as the team and its fans have taken its powerful message into their communities. The SheBelieves Cup adds a showcase event to the campaign, which will continue to spread its positive message to young women and girls.

Additional notes:

All three matches carry some significant storylines for the USA. The meeting with Germany will be the first since the epic 2015 Women’s World Cup semifinal, a 2-0 U.S. victory. The meeting with France will be the first since the 2015 Algarve Cup championship game, a 2-0 U.S. win that reversed a 2-0 loss in the teams’ first match of 2015. The meeting with England will be the first since the USA’s narrow 1-0 victory in Milton Keynes, England in early February of last year that sparked a 24-game unbeaten streak which included the run to the World Cup title.

In addition, the other matches carry tremendous intrigue with Germany facing France in a rematch of their Women’s World Cup quarterfinal, and England taking on Germany, the team it defeated in the third-place match of the Women’s World Cup.

The USA is 19-4-7 all-time against Germany and 2-0-0 against West Germany in matches played in 1988 and 1990. The most recent meeting between the teams came on June 30 in Montreal as the USA defeated Germany 2-0 in the 2015 Women’s World Cup semifinal on goals from Carli Lloyd and Kelley O’Hara.

The USA is 15-1-2 all-time against France, with the lone loss coming on Feb. 8 of last year, a 2-0 setback in Lorient, France that kicked off the 2015 schedule. The USA avenged the loss with a 2-0 victory in the championship game of the 2015 Algarve Cup in Portugal as Julie Johnston and Christen Press scored. The losing team in both those games had a penalty kick saved as Sarah Bouhaddi denied Abby Wambach in Lorient and Hope Solo denied Amandine Henry in Faro.

The USA is 7-3-1 all-time against England, which includes the most recent match between the teams: a 1-0 victory on Feb. 13, 2015, in Milton Keynes, England, where the lone goal come from an Alex Morgan header.

The USA has played six times in Tampa, Fla., including two games at Raymond James Stadium. Most recently, the USA defeated France, 1-0, in June of 2014 on a goal from Sydney Leroux.

The USA has played just five times in the state of Tennessee (three in Chattanooga and two in Nashville at what is currently Nissan Stadium). Most recently, the USA defeated Costa Rica 7-2 at Finley Stadium on Aug. 19 during the 2015 Victory Tour.

The USA has played five matches in Boca Raton, including two at FAU Stadium, a 4-1 win against China PR in 2012 and a 7-0 victory against Russia in 2014.